Sliding windows method based on terrain self-similarity for higher DEM resolution in flood simulating modeling

Abstract

A digital elevation model (DEM) is a quantitative representation of terrain and an important tool for Earth science and hydrological applications. A high-resolution DEM provides accurate basic Geodata and plays a crucial role in related scientific research and practical applications. However, in reality, high-resolution DEMs are often difficult to obtain. Due to the self-similarity present within terrains, we proposed a method using the original DEM itself as a sample to expand the DEM using sliding windows method (SWM) and generate a higher resolution DEM. The main processes of SWM include downsampling the original DEM and constructing mapping sets, searching for the optimal matching, window replacement. Then, we repeat these processes with the small-scale expansion factor. In this paper, the grid resolution of the Taitou Basin was expanded from 30 to 10 m. Overall, the superresolution reconstruction results showed that the method could achieve better outcomes than other commonly used techniques and exhibited a slight deviation (root mean square error (RMSE) = 3.38) from the realistic DEM. The generated high-resolution DEM prove to be significant in the application of flood simulation modeling.